52 NATURAL HISTORY ESSAYS 



tame and playful, and at least two-thirds grown ; 

 it would have made a very interesting and valuable 

 exhibit in the Zoological Gardens which Sir Stamford 

 wished to found in London. Dis aliter visum. On 

 the same day that the "Fame" set sail, a steward 

 going with a light to draw some brandy carelessly 

 set the spirit on fire. The ship blazed up so furiously 

 that Sir Stamford and the others had barely time to 

 bundle themselves overboard before the whole 

 afterpart of the "Fame" was alight; the 

 children were snatched from cots which were 

 already on fire. Crowded together in a couple 

 of boats, the ship's company were in a serious 

 fix, with but little clothing, - a:nd neither food nor 

 water. Happily the captain had a compass, and 

 leading the way in the larger boat, set the course 

 N.E. for Bencoolen ; pulling manfully at the oars 

 the stout fellows made the coast of Sumatra at day- 

 break. The ship they had left continued to burn ; 

 with masts swaying and shrouds ablaze she acted as 

 a beacon. The boat's company were taken on board 

 a vessel sent out in relief. Happily all had been 

 saved ; even Johnson, the sick seaman, had been 

 brougfht off at the last moment. 



Nevertheless, the burning of the "Fame" was a 

 great disaster to Raffles, All his natural history 

 collections — including the clouded tiger — had 

 perished in the ill-fated vessel ; all his papers and 

 drawings, in short, everything — the labours of long 



